Saturday, September 3, 2011

Discussion: Self-Pub Debate

Amber (fantastic name by the way :D ) from Amber in Blunderland asked the community its thoughts on authors who self publish from a reader's point of view and from a writer's point of view.

Given that I haven't written a word in months, I don't know if I can call myself a 'writer,' but for the sake of discussion I will anyway. If I were to ever finish a novel I wouldn't self publish. Why? I need professional criticism. I need someone in a suit to tell me to expand on a certain idea or to rewrite 40 pages, I need reassurance from a third party that I have what it takes to make it in the business.

I haven't had the opportunity to read any works from a self published author (hint hint :p), I have a friend who is self-published and seems very content with his writing career. I am very interested to read his short story collection and afraid because I've learned that I'm kind of a hard ass when it comes to books. From how I see it, I need a different mind set when approaching a self published work, but I don't want to. I feel that I should expect the same thing (or better!) from a self-pubbed as I would from an author who has been published.

Those are my two cents. Obviously you don't have to agree, I just wanted to give my thoughts on the subject. I would love to hear your thoughts as well whether in the comments or on your blog (link me!)

Interesting debate. I want to return and see what others say. I've read a lot of self-pub. Some of them are VERY good but it seems as if people aren't as likely to read your book if you are self-pub. People seem more reluctant. I wonder if there is some amazing self-pub success story out there.